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Tuesday, May 1, 2012

The weakening of democratic institutions
is never good for any Nation. Many
Nations – economically poor or strong, have stronger Nationalistic alignments –
which is appears absent in Indian political scenario. There are many a times when there are discordant
notes and chaotic political scenario lacking clearer direction. The greatest of the political seats in India are those
of the President and the Prime Minister.

First there was public outrage over
‘defence land being grabbed’ for a post-retirement home led the President
Prathiba Patil to surrender land allotted to her new home in PUne. A retired Lt. Col. Suresh Patil involved with
‘Justice for Jawan’ object to the nearly 5 acres being set aside for the
President’s home. Close on the heels,
came the news of CBI booking BEML Chairman for alleged cheating, criminal
conspiracy and corruption in connection with tendering process for hiring a
private consultancy firm and carried out searches at several locations
including his residence; and… Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh’s adviser denied
that there was any “irregularity or illegality” in the allotment of two plots
of land to his niece and a “family friend”
in Bangalore by a cooperative society of employees of the public sector
defence undertaking BEML.

At a different ground, it is more than a
week since the Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon,
was abducted by Maoists – he has not been located and no grounds made in
the negotiations so far. There are
disturbing reports of Maoists upped the
ante, seeking more for the release of the Collector. The Interlocutors are in Tadmetla village
to talk to the insurgent leaders. From
there they reportedly are to be taken to interior place in two wheeler. Maoists are seeking release of 17 of their
jailed comrades as against the original eight for freeing the 2006-batch IAS
officer. Tadmetla is the place where
Maoists had massacred 75 CRPF troopers and one state police official on April
6, 2010, the biggest ever rebel attack on security personnel in the State. The Govt
after spate of abductions of two Italians, Orissa MLA, Sukma Dist
Collector, has realized that it is full blown terrorism and not simple trouble
fermented by our spoilt brothers and sisters.

Again, if one looks back to the State’s
will and way of handling such issues – one would be perturbed by the hollowness
of direction. Only recently, the Home
Minister P Chidamabaram told Rajya Sabha that the Govt noticed
"minimal" presence of Maoists in the northeast region. He was also reported as saying that So far,
no case of Maoists indulging in smuggling of arms from across the border has
come to notice. He was trying to make
that an issue across the border by stating that most of the weapons seized from
insurgents carry Chinese mark. It is or
was never solely an issue flamed from across the border, it is very much
happening in our heartland and the Govt. needs to address the issues
properly. Elsewhere in a special session
organised by the Bharat Chamber of Commerce, he was quoted as saying that the
Centre was not asking Maoists to give up their ideology or surrender or even
lay down arms, but “simply stop the violence and come for talks,”

He is not alone in making such confused
statements. Shivraj Patil, when he was
the Home Minister in 2008 sought to invoke the nation¿s sympathy for Maoists
describing them as 'our spoiled brothers and sisters who are angry and
misled'. Now, the Minister of state in
the home ministry, Jitendra Singh, is
quoted as stating 'This (abductions) is
a new development in their (Maoist) tactics, indicating the gradual
transformation of the outfit into a fullblown terrorist organisation which
indiscriminately targets civilian non-combatants.' 'Earlier, the home ministry called them extortionists
and criminals. The ministry's data from November last year says Maoists
kidnapped 1,554 people over the past three years. But three high-profile
abductions have humiliated the government.

The government believes that the Maoists
will implode because of their new-found tilt towards terror tactics. 'In the long run, the inherent nature of
the ideology which puts a premium on
violence, killing, destruction of infrastructure, indiscriminate use of
landmines targeting even civilians and kidnapping of noncivilian combatants
will create dynamics for its own demise even in the worst-affected
districts. Assuming that indeed would
happen, lot damage would have been caused to the Nation by the time such a
natural death occurs and a Govt. cannot be waiting for things to settle on
their own.

The abductions of Alex Paul Menon
recently and R.Vineel Krishna in Malkangiri last year are not to be seen as
incidents in isolation – whatever be their personal views they were the faces
of the State working in remote villages trying to implement the welfare
measures for the locals and sad that they have become pawns in the abduction
and negotiations…